diff --git a/src/app/admin/photos/[photoId]/edit/page.tsx b/src/app/admin/photos/[photoId]/edit/page.tsx
index 6321b102..ebf0d73c 100644
--- a/src/app/admin/photos/[photoId]/edit/page.tsx
+++ b/src/app/admin/photos/[photoId]/edit/page.tsx
@@ -2,7 +2,11 @@ import { redirect } from 'next/navigation';
 import { getPhotoNoStore, getUniqueTagsCached } from '@/photo/cache';
 import { PATH_ADMIN } from '@/site/paths';
 import PhotoEditPageClient from '@/photo/PhotoEditPageClient';
-import { AI_TEXT_GENERATION_ENABLED, BLUR_ENABLED } from '@/site/config';
+import {
+  AI_TEXT_GENERATION_ENABLED,
+  BLUR_ENABLED,
+  IS_PREVIEW,
+} from '@/site/config';
 import { blurImageFromUrl, resizeImageFromUrl } from '@/photo/server';
 import { getNextImageUrlForManipulation } from '@/services/next-image';
 
@@ -23,12 +27,14 @@ export default async function PhotoEditPage({
   
   // Only generate image thumbnails when AI generation is enabled
   const imageThumbnailBase64 = AI_TEXT_GENERATION_ENABLED
-    ? await resizeImageFromUrl(getNextImageUrlForManipulation(photo.url))
+    ? await resizeImageFromUrl(
+      getNextImageUrlForManipulation(photo.url, IS_PREVIEW)
+    )
     : '';
 
   const blurData = BLUR_ENABLED
     ? await blurImageFromUrl(
-      getNextImageUrlForManipulation(photo.url)
+      getNextImageUrlForManipulation(photo.url, IS_PREVIEW)
     )
     : '';
 
diff --git a/src/image-response/components/ImagePhotoGrid.tsx b/src/image-response/components/ImagePhotoGrid.tsx
index 3722d562..cdec9da2 100644
--- a/src/image-response/components/ImagePhotoGrid.tsx
+++ b/src/image-response/components/ImagePhotoGrid.tsx
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import {
   NextImageSize,
   getNextImageUrlForRequest,
 } from '@/services/next-image';
+import { IS_PREVIEW } from '@/site/config';
 
 export default function ImagePhotoGrid({
   photos,
@@ -64,7 +65,13 @@ export default function ImagePhotoGrid({
           }}
         >
           <img {...{
-            src: getNextImageUrlForRequest(url, nextImageWidth),
+            src: getNextImageUrlForRequest(
+              url,
+              nextImageWidth,
+              undefined,
+              undefined,
+              IS_PREVIEW,
+            ),
             style: {
               width: '100%',
               ...imagePosition === 'center' && {
diff --git a/src/photo/form/PhotoForm.tsx b/src/photo/form/PhotoForm.tsx
index 139fb388..5e1750c1 100644
--- a/src/photo/form/PhotoForm.tsx
+++ b/src/photo/form/PhotoForm.tsx
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ import usePreventNavigation from '@/utility/usePreventNavigation';
 import { useAppState } from '@/state/AppState';
 import UpdateBlurDataButton from '../UpdateBlurDataButton';
 import { getNextImageUrlForManipulation } from '@/services/next-image';
-import { BLUR_ENABLED } from '@/site/config';
+import { BLUR_ENABLED, IS_PREVIEW } from '@/site/config';
 import { PhotoDbInsert } from '..';
 import ErrorNote from '@/components/ErrorNote';
 
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ export default function PhotoForm({
       case 'blurData':
         return shouldDebugImageFallbacks && type === 'edit' && formData.url
           ? <UpdateBlurDataButton
-            photoUrl={getNextImageUrlForManipulation(formData.url)}
+            photoUrl={getNextImageUrlForManipulation(formData.url, IS_PREVIEW)}
             onUpdatedBlurData={blurData =>
               setFormData(data => ({ ...data, blurData }))}
           />
diff --git a/src/photo/index.ts b/src/photo/index.ts
index 97c96b71..17f8c381 100644
--- a/src/photo/index.ts
+++ b/src/photo/index.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import { formatFocalLength } from '@/focal';
 import { Lens } from '@/lens';
 import { getNextImageUrlForRequest } from '@/services/next-image';
 import { FilmSimulation } from '@/simulation';
-import { HIGH_DENSITY_GRID, SHOW_EXIF_DATA } from '@/site/config';
+import { HIGH_DENSITY_GRID, IS_PREVIEW, SHOW_EXIF_DATA } from '@/site/config';
 import { ABSOLUTE_PATH_FOR_HOME_IMAGE } from '@/site/paths';
 import { formatDate, formatDateFromPostgresString } from '@/utility/date';
 import {
@@ -307,8 +307,16 @@ export const getKeywordsForPhoto = (photo: Photo) =>
     .filter(Boolean)
     .map(keyword => keyword.toLocaleLowerCase());
 
-export const isNextImageReadyBasedOnPhotos = async (photos: Photo[]) =>
-  photos.length > 0 && fetch(getNextImageUrlForRequest(photos[0].url, 640))
+export const isNextImageReadyBasedOnPhotos = async (
+  photos: Photo[],
+): Promise<boolean> =>
+  photos.length > 0 && fetch(getNextImageUrlForRequest(
+    photos[0].url,
+    640,
+    undefined,
+    undefined,
+    IS_PREVIEW,
+  ))
     .then(response => response.ok)
     .catch(() => false);
 
diff --git a/src/services/next-image.ts b/src/services/next-image.ts
index 13ce7ffe..682130d1 100644
--- a/src/services/next-image.ts
+++ b/src/services/next-image.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
-import { BASE_URL } from '@/site/config';
+import {
+  BASE_URL,
+  VERCEL_BYPASS_KEY,
+  VERCEL_BYPASS_SECRET,
+} from '@/site/config';
 
 // Explicity defined next.config.js `imageSizes`
 type NextCustomSize = 200;
@@ -14,6 +18,7 @@ export const getNextImageUrlForRequest = (
   size: NextImageSize,
   quality = 75,
   baseUrl = BASE_URL,
+  addBypassSecret = false,
 ) => {
   const url = new URL(`${baseUrl}/_next/image`);
 
@@ -21,10 +26,17 @@ export const getNextImageUrlForRequest = (
   url.searchParams.append('w', size.toString());
   url.searchParams.append('q', quality.toString());
 
+  if (addBypassSecret && VERCEL_BYPASS_SECRET) {
+    url.searchParams.append(VERCEL_BYPASS_KEY, VERCEL_BYPASS_SECRET);
+  }
+
   return url.toString();
 };
 
 // Generate small, low-bandwidth images for quick manipulations such as
 // generating blur data or image thumbnails for AI text generation
-export const getNextImageUrlForManipulation = (imageUrl: string) =>
-  getNextImageUrlForRequest(imageUrl, 640, 90);
+export const getNextImageUrlForManipulation = (
+  imageUrl: string,
+  addBypassSecret = false,
+) =>
+  getNextImageUrlForRequest(imageUrl, 640, 90, undefined, addBypassSecret);
diff --git a/src/site/config.ts b/src/site/config.ts
index 55961890..7a632de7 100644
--- a/src/site/config.ts
+++ b/src/site/config.ts
@@ -35,6 +35,11 @@ export const IS_PRODUCTION = process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production' && (
   !VERCEL_ENV
 );
 
+export const IS_PREVIEW = VERCEL_ENV === 'preview';
+
+export const VERCEL_BYPASS_KEY = 'x-vercel-protection-bypass';
+export const VERCEL_BYPASS_SECRET = process.env.VERCEL_AUTOMATION_BYPASS_SECRET;
+
 // User-facing domain, potential site title
 const SITE_DOMAIN =
   process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_DOMAIN ||
diff --git a/src/utility/vercel.ts b/src/utility/vercel.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fd788f11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utility/vercel.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+import {
+  IS_PREVIEW,
+  VERCEL_BYPASS_KEY,
+  VERCEL_BYPASS_SECRET,
+} from '@/site/config';
+
+export const fetchWithBypass: typeof fetch = (url, options) =>
+  IS_PREVIEW && VERCEL_BYPASS_SECRET
+    ? fetch(url, {
+      ...options,
+      headers: {
+        ...options?.headers,
+        [VERCEL_BYPASS_KEY]: VERCEL_BYPASS_SECRET,
+      },
+    })
+    : fetch(url, options);